Different actions included cooking lessons, kayaking down the Nile, and upholding the spirit of Penn State, together with in Egypt. Frank Miele, a junior majoring in psychology with a minor in Arabic, mentioned he and his classmates “sacrificed an evening’s sleep to broadcast the Rose Bowl from the lodge.”
The journey enhances the ARAB 99/499 course that takes place this spring semester. This course permits college students to “focus on experiences in Egypt and additional discover Egyptian historical past and tradition, in addition to Arabic,” Sennett mentioned.
Many of those college students had by no means been to Egypt earlier than, so their experiences in Arabic research programs ready them nicely for this expertise.
“I had no prior information or recommendation from members of the family about going to Cairo, so it was a aid to be taught in regards to the cultural variations earlier than the journey,” mentioned Caitlin Maggs, a third-year main in English with a minor in Arabic.
Maggs mentioned her lessons inside the Arabic program ready her for the change to Egyptian tradition.
“I keep in mind studying about totally different professions and dynamics in Egypt in comparison with america. In Egypt, it’s common for individuals to initially go to a pharmacist for assist if they’re sick relatively than communicate to a physician or nurse, which is extra typical in america,” she mentioned. “I skilled this primary hand as I used to be not feeling nicely at the start of the journey. Professor Aly and I spoke with a pharmacist who really helpful remedy for me.”
Whereas the Egyptian tradition was the primary focus of the journey, the Arabic language was additionally extremely vital to check and be taught in Cairo.
“Though Egyptian Arabic is a special dialect than Trendy Normal Arabic, which we be taught at school, there are various fundamental phrases and phrases which are the identical or comparable,” mentioned Katie Mussett, a junior double majoring in political science and international research and worldwide programs and triple minoring in Arabic, Spanish and philosophy. “In the course of the journey, we tried our greatest to be taught and use many Egyptian phrases, in addition to perceive the fundamentals of the dialect. Most significantly, we had been capable of communicate with native audio system in on a regular basis conditions.”